Gov. Charlie Baker just put $4 billion into the state’s pocket. Earlier this week, he signed a federal aid bill to support continued recovery from the pandemic. The spending plan, funded by the American Rescue Plan Act, covers key areas of need for the state.
The majority of the relief money will be focused on health care, housing, infrastructure, education + economic development.
Here’s a quick breakdown of where some of the relief dollars are headed — read additional highlights of the plan here.
- $500 million for premium pay for low-income essential workers.
- $400 million for addiction treatment and related behavioral health services.
- $100 million for grants for water and sewer infrastructure improvements — plus another $100 million to improve environmental infrastructure.
- $65 million for supporting expanded homeownership opportunities, focused on first-time homebuyers from disproportionately impacted communities.
In addition to the big ticket items, a considerable portion of funding is allocated for cultural organizations + small businesses.
- $135 million for supporting cultural facilities and tourism assets.
- $75 million for grants to small businesses, $50 million of which will go to businesses reaching underserved markets and minority, women, and veteran-owned businesses.
- $25 million will be reserved for small businesses that did not qualify for prior programs.
Some other numbers that stood out to us: $44.8 million for food security, $25 million for greening gateway cities + $100 million for heating, ventilation and air conditioning in public school districts.
This bill authorizes up to $2.55 billion in spending from the ARPA money that was provided to the state in May of 2021, leaving around $2.3 billion of those funds for future use.
